'Give' by Simon Armitage

STRUCTURE
1. CAESURA
  1. "You give me tea. That's big of you"
    1. Makes a dramatic pause. Gives listener time to feel good and then feel guilty when speaker says 'that's big of you'
2. CONTRASTS
  1. 'You give me tea...I'm on my knees
    1. Emphasises how different speaker's life is
3. RHYME
  1. rhyming couplet at start gives light-hearted feel but no set rhyme scheme - shows his life is unpredicatable? Or that he doesn't quite fit in?
4. Dramatic monologue
LANGUAGE
1. Direct address - personal
2. Ironic tone
  1. "dear"
  2. "That's big of you"
3. Biblical imagery
  1. "Frankincense" / "myrrh"
    1. Jesus was born with nothing, just like the speaker has nothing
4. Lexical field of 'riches'
5. Command verb in title
6. Pun
  1. "just change"
    1. double meaning of asking you to change your attitude and to give coins
THEMES
1. identity - loss of identity
2. being treated differently
3. fear of being judged
IDEAS
1. could be a love poem?
2. moral message?

Resource summary

	Created by Diane Duncan about 8 years ago